TORONTO – The Ontario Heritage Trust is now accepting applications to the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Program. Residencies are available throughout 2023, with flexible terms ranging from one to three months. The application deadline is September 30, 2022.

The residency program is open to professional Canadian artists practising a wide array of disciplines. Selected artists will live and create in the inspiring natural setting of the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Centre at Fool’s Paradise, the former home and studio of celebrated Canadian landscape artist Doris McCarthy.

Located on the Scarborough Bluffs in Toronto, Fool’s Paradise offers a tranquil environment for artists looking to escape, re-energize and focus on their art. Wishing for other artists and creators to experience the same inspiring views that fostered so much of her own artistic expression, McCarthy donated her home to the Ontario Heritage Trust in 1998 with the intention of turning it into an artist-in-residence centre. The Trust launched the program in 2015 and has since welcomed 49 artists from across Canada to McCarthy’s home.

Learn more about the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Program and fill out an application.

The Trust welcomes applications from artists practising in a variety of creative disciplines, as well as artists from underrepresented backgrounds. This program is generously supported by RBC Emerging Artists.

Quick facts

• Doris McCarthy (1910-2010) was one of Canada’s most renowned landscape painters of the second half of the 20th century. She worked out of her home, Fool’s Paradise, for nearly 70 years.
• McCarthy donated Fool’s Paradise to the Ontario Heritage Trust in 1998 to conserve its scenic, esthetic, natural and cultural values, with the wish that following her death it would become an artist-in-residence centre and venue for heritage activities.
• Applications are assessed by an independent expert advisory panel.
• To date, 49 artists have participated in the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Program.
• The Ontario Heritage Trust worked with the Doris McCarthy Gallery (University of Toronto Scarborough), OCAD University, the Ontario Society of Artists and the Writer’s Union of Canada on the development of the program.

Learn more

• Read more on the history of the program.
• Read profiles of the 2022 artists in residence.
• Watch videos about the Doris McCarthy Artist-in-Residence Program.
• Download the media kit.

Stay connected

Follow the Ontario Heritage Trust on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. Subscribe to the Heritage Matters ... more! e-newsletter.

Contact

Patricia Njovu, Senior Marketing and Communications Specialist, Ontario Heritage Trust. Patricia.Njovu@heritagetrust.on.ca or 416-325-5074.

About the Ontario Heritage Trust

The Ontario Heritage Trust (the Trust) is an agency of the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. The Trust conserves, interprets and shares Ontario’s heritage. We conserve provincially significant cultural and natural, tangible and intangible heritage, interpret Ontario’s history, celebrate its diversity and educate Ontarians of its importance in our society. The Trust envisions an Ontario where we conserve, value and share the places and landscapes, histories, traditions and stories that embody our heritage, now and for future generations.

-30-